


Counting Cards

by orphan_account



Category: From The Mixed-Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - E. L. Konigsburg
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-20
Updated: 2010-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-13 19:45:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/141082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account





	Counting Cards

**Author's Note:**

  * For [janet_carter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/janet_carter/gifts).



1.

Bruce wasn't allowed to play War with him anymore.

Of all the things that happened after they got back home, Jamie was sure that that was by far the most unfair. After he'd seen how relieved their parents were to see them home and how worried they'd been, the rest of it made sense. (He'd been surprised by that, though maybe not so much as Claudia; when he'd managed to catch her alone a few days afterwards, he'd asked her whether she'd remembered to leave the letter in a place where they'd be sure to see it. She said she had, but she looked guilty enough that it rubbed off on him a little.) So he didn't mind being watched as if he might suddenly disappear into nowhere, or having his allowance kept for him - it was going to take a long time to save up for a new trip anyway, after having spent the last nickel he owned and only making a few back since. Even Claudia having to take responsibility for Kevin all the time seemed fair enough to him, considering that Steve'd had to do it all the time while they'd been gone.

But then they'd gone back to school and Bruce had forgotten to bring his cards on the bus for three days running until he finally admitted that he'd slipped and accidentally half told his parents he'd been playing for money with 'that kid who went missing.' So they'd taken his half of the cards and that was that for the game.

They still sat together on the bus and talked on the way to school and back, but it just wasn't the same. Jamie could've forgiven it pretty easily - it wasn't like he was the best secret keeper in the world himself, he knew that - but his wallet stung from the lack of guaranteed cash and his sense of fair play hurt more: Lady Claudia had come home _different_ and Sir James, who'd spent the most and sparked the idea that saved the day at the end of it all, came home with a secret which was mostly his sister's that he had to concentrate on Not Telling all the time and a half-wrecked friendship. Definitely not fair.

On top of that, it turned out playing war with yourself wasn't much fun, even if you cheated on both sides to make it harder.

2.

That winter a package showed up in Jamie's room after a family dinner, wrapped up neatly in brown paper and tucked into his dresser drawer with not a tag or a label to say where it came from. He stuffed it back under his pajamas hurriedly as his grandfather looked in to say goodnight again before leaving, Jamie's mother trailing along behind him to check on Jamie for what must have been at least the tenth time that day.

One thing led to another and it was bedtime before he got a second chance at it. He opened the package carefully the minute he was sure he was alone, not sure what was going on. The only person likely to pass him secret things was Claudia, and while she had looked normal at dinner, he'd already seen how good she could stoneface it out if she really had to. Not that he'd mind a secret package from her, but if there were _complications_ involved again, he hoped they wouldn't be the paper-eating sort again.

They weren't. The wrapping paper was blank on the inside, too; once he'd unwrapped it all, two decks of cards fell out first thing. No way it was Claude, then. Probably. He opened one box and shook the cards out to get a good look. They were new, smooth and sharp around the edges instead of worn like most of his, and the paper felt heavy and thick, but other than being _nice_ cards, they were just plain cards. Confused, he closed the box and shoved both decks under his pillow (just in case) before going back to the paper.

Hidden in the brown folds, lighter than the decks, was a small, plain hardcover book. The Rules and Strategies of Poker he read, mystified, then opened the front cover:

 _From the Library of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler_

 

3.

It turned out that Bruce's mother had never told him he wasn't allowed to play poker.

 

4.

Claudia wasn't precisely _steamed_ at him, but Jamie could tell that she was still kind of annoyed that he'd accidentally figured out an easy way to get a free pass to visit Mrs Frankweiler. They'd tried a lot of excuses to get away without drawing attention, but nothing had worked long enough to get to the train station, let alone all the way to Farmington for a visit and back. (But really, it wasn't his fault - he'd only been trying to cover up an accidental almost-slip when asked what he wanted for his birthday by saying he wanted to visit "a friend in Connecticut" instead of "Mrs Frankweiler." His grandfather Saxonberg said he'd drive them, and that was that.)

So she had retreated to the bathroom again. It made less sense why she'd hide in the tub this time, even, since they'd come right from home and their normal bathtub in good clothes that hadn't been washed to death in a laundromat. But Claudia was a little weird, and anyway, her bath obsession gave him time to challenge Mrs Frankweiler to a game before lunch.

It was a good thing he'd had some practice with Bruce, too, because if he'd thought she was sharp at war it wasn't anything compared to how good she was at poker, and he didn't think she was even cheating - and despite it, he still lost, though not by much. He handed over the quarter somewhat disgruntledly, not being used to losing at cards, and asked her how to do better.

Practice, she said, and pulled the cards in to shuffle them down.

That wasn't a real answer and they both knew as much, but probably she still just didn't want to tell secrets for free. Sitting up, Jamie squared his shoulders. Deal again, he said.


End file.
